Cameras generally and pinhole cameras, in particular, have been widely known for centuries. For example, during the Renaissance, an image forming device known as a camera obscura was used to enable an artist to faithfully reproduce scenes. These devices were generally quite large, and, in the case of the camera obscura, the image was recorded by hand. Some of these xe2x80x9ccamerasxe2x80x9d were even the size of a room.
With the advent of modern photochemical processes, the relatively large pinhole camera came to be made in small sizes, more in line with the requirements of silver-based photographic emulsion systems. Unlike a portable camera obscura with a lens, the pinhole camera utilizes a round hole or aperture which allows light to enter the camera without refracting and changing its direction, unlike focusing optics such as a lens. This difference between an aperture and a lens creates a striking difference in the resulting picture taken by a pinhole camera compared to a picture made by a camera with a lens. While a lens will only bring objects within the depth of field into sharp focus, an aperture imparts the same degree of sharpness to the image of all objects, regardless of their distance from the camera, by allowing cones of light of the image to widen in the compartment once past the aperture, but only to the extent permitted by the width of the pinhole and the distance to the image plane.
The pinhole camera has evolved into a useful and important tool in the arts and sciences as well as astronomy and space exploration. The heritage of pinhole cameras continues to be active and is currently undergoing a renaissance in present day America.
The present invention relates to a multiple axis pinhole camera; more particularly, a multiple axis pinhole camera that has multiple apertures, allows the placement of photographic material in a variety of positions within the camera, and contains the necessary developer components to develop a photograph.
The present invention also relates to a kit containing a multiple axis pinhole camera having a hollow structure that can hold the photographic material and necessary developer components to develop a photograph and recover silver from the fixer.
The camera and kit of the present invention presents significant advantages as compared to prior art pinhole cameras. For example, Caviness, U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,037 shows a pinhole camera capable of holding photographic material in place while Merrick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,641 teaches a pinhole camera having an adjustable focal length. Both Caviness and Merrick wholly lack any teaching of a pinhole camera having multiple apertures thereby creating multiple axis and different perspectives to take several different types of photographs or more than one photograph at a time. Both of the above patents also lack any teachings related to a pinhole camera capable of containing all the necessary developer components for developing the photograph, once it has been taken.
The principal objective of the present invention is to provide a pinhole camera with multiple axes and apertures for photographic and instructional purposes. It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device so that more than one type of photographic perspective can be created through the use of multiple axis and apertures. It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device so that the orientation of photographic material can be altered to create xe2x80x9cspecial effectsxe2x80x9d in the photographs and expand the types of photographs taken with each perspective. It is also a further objective of the present invention to provide such a device that can hold all of the developer components and chemical solutions necessary to process photographic materials, without having to remove them from the camera.
Another principal objective of the present invention is to provide a kit for taking and developing photographs with a pinhole camera using developer components contained inside the pinhole camera itself.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an easy and user friendly developing process that enables people who are disabled, wheel chair bound, sensory-motor challenged, dyslexic or visually impaired to use the camera and develop a photograph on their own. Another object of the present invention is to provide an environmentally conscious method for developing photographic material without harmfully impacting the environment.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.
The foregoing objects can be accomplished by providing a multiple axis pinhole camera having a base, a sidewall, a detachable cover, an inner surface, an outer surface, a support for holding a photographic material and at least one aperture. The pinhole camera is constructed from a paint can. The detachable cover is removed using a pry-type opener provided with the camera. Adhesive tape is used to cover the apertures. The apertures are located on both the sidewall and cover of the pinhole camera. The inner surface of the camera is coated with a chemically resistant and light absorbing material such as black epoxy paint. The inner surface also forms a curved image plane to support the photographic material. The support for holding photographic material can be an adhesive tape or a mechanical support.
The pinhole camera is a kit that can hold the necessary components to develop a photograph. These developer components in general consist of photochemicals, photographic materials, measuring devices, print developing tube, a safelight for processing photographic material and personal protection material such as plastic gloves.